Lucky hat and rusty quarter lead to Rock Hall lottery win By MAEGAN CLEARWOOD Student intern | Posted: Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:00 am ROCK HALL Once a week, Raymond Reinacher Jr. dons his famous white cowboy hat, heads to Waterman's, and sings the night away for a bar full of local fans. Now, the 75yearold Rock Hall resident has a new claim to fame: He's the town's newest millionaire. "You've got to scratch to match, that's my motto," he said Tuesday. Reinacher had no intention of walking out of the Shore Stop with a million dollar ticket last Saturday morning; he went to the convenience store to buy a Pick Four ticket, but when he realized he left his numbers at home, he threw $20 on a Million Money ScratchOff ticket, went outside to his truck, and started scratching away. He was completely unprepared for what he found.
Reinacher Raymond Reinacher Jr., of Rock Hall, claimed his $1 million prize Monday at Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.
"I cried for about 10 minutes, then I walked inside. I went over to my friends and asked if I'd read the ticket right," he said Tuesday during an interview at the Sailing Emporium, where he still works three days a week. "I let the girl run it through the machine, and then she said, 'You're a millionaire.'" "He was in shock," said Shore Stop manager Judy Berry. "You don't think you'd get a million dollars from a scratchoff." Reinacher's first stop after verifying his win was the Sailing Emporium, where he's worked as a groundskeeper for 23 years. "He's been a hard worker all his life," said marina General Manager and Vice President Bobby Willis, who is also the town's mayor. "Ray's like family, so we've had people calling in, and the only thing I've continued to hear is that there couldn't have been a better person to win it." Along with his family and friends, Reinacher said he also told the good news to a photograph of his wife who passed away five years ago. "She's in heaven now, and I know she's happy for me," he said. Since Reinacher moved to Rock Hall from Buffalo, N.Y. over 35 years ago, he's become a local celebrity for his regular karaoke nights as well as his winning personality. "I'm the kind of guy who gets attached to people," he said. "'Ray with the Hat,' that's what everybody calls me. When I come in on weekends, it's like a country star walked in." Reinacher's two lucky charms – his hat and a rusty quarter that he uses for all of his scratchoffs – have certainly paid off. Over the years, he estimates he's pocketed about $20,000 from the Maryland Lottery. "I believe in luck to a certain extent, but with luck you have to have knowledge," he said. "I've been doing this for a while now, and there's a trick to it. I've been playing so long I have an instinct of what's going to win and what's going to lose."
Although Reinacher is used to earning small cash prizes, he's still in shock from his latest win. "The first thing I'm going to do when I get that check in the mail is take a deep breath and put it all in the bank," he said. After he splits some of the money between his eight children, Reinacher said he's thinking about splurging on a '59 Thunderbird, a new suit, and maybe a new white hat. "I'm still the same guy," he said. "I might buy a car, but I'm not going to change." Reinacher is even considering taking a vacation, but he has no plans for retiring from the Sailing Emporium or leaving Rock Hall. "When I found this town, I thought, 'I've found paradise,'" he said. "I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere. I've got lots of friends here. This is my place, these are my kind of people." Reinacher said he also intends to continue testing his luck with scratchoffs. After all, there are still two more million dollar tickets floating around. "Hopefully, I'll get another one, but I'm not going to go looking for it," he said.